Do you own too many books to fit on your shelves? If you live in the Philadelphia area, I will accept your surplus books for donation, with the proceeds going to Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), an exceptional program. SHOFCO is in Kibera, an enormous slum outside of Nairobi, Kenya, lacking all civic infrastructure, including public schools. One of SHOFCO’s programs which I love the most is the Kibera School for Girls, which provides a free, top-notch elementary school education, two daily meals, uniforms and health care to some of the world’s poorest girls. They are now healthy, learning, and thriving. This miracle takes money, and the resale of your books goes, literally, straight into the SHOFCO checking account.

Here’s the deal:

You can drop off up to 15 books at a time.

Books must be copyright 21st century; older books have very little resale value.

Books must have an ISBN number (no uncorrected page proofs, for example).

Books must be in good condition.

If you price an older book yourself on Amazon and its resale value exceeds $10.00, I will accept it. (resale value is the LOWEST price under used books.)

Here is what I do:

Books with high resale value will be resold individually on Amazon.com.

Books accepted for Amazon Trade-In will be sold at their offered price.

Books with resale value under $10 will be donated toBetterWorldBooks, a social business which resells books and promotes literacy with its profits.

Here is what I do NOT do:

This is based on trust. I cannot track what happens to any individual book.

I cannot provide a tax receipt, since the books are aggregated, and Kibera receives a monthly amount from Amazon. I will post the aggregate amount, though.

I am donating my labor, in hopes we can together provide a scholarship for a deserving student. I cannot pick up your books.